Is there a function in Vimscript or a convention that allows you to simply print text to the editor? The function echo only supplies a command line print function, and does not actually print to the editor.

A facility I sometimes use is :redir @" (or :redir @a for register a), which redirects the output of commands to a buffer, so you can paste it. To stop output redirection, say :redir end. See :help :redir.